Hawaii will soon ban sunscreens for a good reason

The Hawaiian legislature has approved a petition that will most likely ban the usage of sunscreens in the country because some of the contents found in certain sunscreen lotions and creams are responsible for destroying the coral reefs – a dying precious.

The beautiful underwater worlds of corals across the world are fatally getting hurt because of climate change and human activities – the problem is global and the coral reefs can only be saved if humans do something about it. Recently, the Australian government had announced millions of dollars’ worth investment in a bid to save the Great Barrier Coral reef, as these marine vegetation continues to wear out. However, another major home to corals – Hawaii have decided to take a unique step to stop the destruction of corals. The measure is – banning sunscreens containing ingredients that are hurting the coral reefs.

Under the “Preserve Marine Ecosystem” motto, the Hawaiian State House and Senate passed the legislation that will ban the usage of sunscreens in Hawaii – particularly sunscreens containing two ingredients – oxybenzone and octinoxate which are harmful for the coral reefs. This legislation was based on a research conducted by Craig Downs of the Haereticus Environment Laboratory which shows how oxybenzone is detrimental to coral growth and octinoxate causes coral bleaching. Also, it is proved that octinoxate ‘slows the healing process down tremendously’ by slowing lesion regeneration. Just so you know, these two chemicals are core ingredients in more than 3,500 skin-care products sold around the world

Hawaiian coral reefs are already fragile and it are harmed more due to oxybenzone and octinoxate that washes off when sunbathers and swimmers dive into water. These washed off chemicals then drift towards the reefs and contribute in causing problems such as DNA damage and deformities in baby coral. So as good measure to start off with and move towards preserving marine world – Hawaii will soon ban the usage of sunscreens containing these two ingredients once the Governor of Hawaii signs the legislation. If you are travelling to Hawaii or pretty much any travel destination with corals, try to avoid sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate – whether or not there is a law banning it.